Germany continued to experience a decrease in import prices towards the end of the final quarter, largely due to a reduction in energy costs, according to information released by Destatis on Wednesday.
In December, import prices had dropped 8.5 percent from the previous year, a slight improvement from November's 9.0 percent decrease. The prices have been on a downward trend since March 2023.
According to Destatis, the primary reason for this decrease was the high price increments of 2022, creating a baseline effect.
Looking at the data, energy import prices saw the most significant decline at 32.1 percent annually while imported intermediate goods reduced by 7.2 percent. On the other hand, the prices of capital goods saw an increase of 1.8 percent.
Monthly, import prices decreased 1.1 percent, following a minor 0.1 percent decrease in November.
For the entire year 2023, import prices were 8.3 percent lower than in 2022, demonstrating the most substantial fall since 2009.
On another note, the export prices have also been decreasing. Yearly export prices showed a 2.4 percent decrease, slightly more than the 2.2 percent decrease in the previous month. Monthly, export prices remained stable with a reduction of 0.2 percent.
